Feb 10, 2015

Feb 01, 2015

Jan 25, 2015

Biography

Lee Yo-Won was born on April 9, 1980, in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. In 1997, during her sophomore year in high school, Lee Yo-Won applied for a modeling contest and was picked as the winner. After the contest she debuted in the monthly fashion magazine "Figaro" (휘가로) for its November issue. In 1998, Lee Yo-Won made her acting debut in the film "Scent of a Man". While acting for her first movie, Lee Yo-Won sometimes tore up because staff members only applauded the other actors for their work. Then some staff members noticed her tears and mentioned she was good at tearing up. That was the first time she heard positive words about her acting. With her confidence building and gaining more attention from the staff members, Lee Yo-Won realized she wanted to pursue acting as a profession.

For her second film, Lee Yo-Won played gas station attendant Galchi in the hit movie “Attack the Gas Station!” which sold 2.4 million tickets. Thanks to the popularity of that film Lee Yo-Won started to gain recognition from the public. Lee Yo-Won then acted in several television dramas.In 2001, Lee Yo-Won's big breakthrough came in the KBS TV drama "Blue Mist" (Pureun Angae). For the first time Lee Yo-Won played the lead character in a TV drama and the series became a big hit. The drama itself contained a controversial (for its time) storyline involving a woman in her early 20's becoming involved romantically with a married man in his 40's. In the same year, 2001, Lee Yo-Won acted as one of the three main characters in the critically praised indie film "Take Care of My Cat" directed by female director Jeong Jae-Eun. The film was chosen as one of the 5 best films of 2001 by "Cine Seoul" magazine. Lee Yo-Won mentioned in a 2009 interview with "Elle Korea" fashion magazine that "Take Care of My Cat" was her most memorable work. Lee Yo Won also got Baeksang Award for Best Newcomer Actress by the movie Take Care of my Cat.

In 2003, at the age of 22, Lee Yo-Won made the surprising announcement that she will marry. On January 10, 2003, Lee Yo-Won married professional golfer & businessman Park Jin-Woo. Lee Yo-Won temporarily put her acting career on hold while she went to the U.S. with her husband to study. Lee Yo Won accompanied her husband to get Master degree in University of San Diego while Lee Yo Won also wanted to study English in U.S.

In December 2003, Lee Yo-Won had a daughter. In an interview with TV show "Section TV - S Diary" on MBC, Lee Yo-Won mentioned that at the time of her marriage she was tired of acting and the demands placed on her. One week before her marriage, Lee Yo Won still had to complete her filming schedule for drama “Daemang”, she was really at her peak and busy as an actress at that time as she decided to get married.

In 2005, Lee Yo-Won made her acting comeback in the SBS drama series "Fashion 70's". She chose the role for three reasons: because it was a historical drama, that it was directed by Lee Jae-Kyu (who previously directed popular female oriented detective drama "Damo: The Legendary Police Woman") and that it dealt with a woman's career and success rather than a pure love story. Actually she was afraid of her comeback that people can’t accept her. She got some criticisms for her life in US that she on purpose gave birth outside Korea. She said because now she has a family, if she was mocked, her family will get the impact too. But she got big support from her husband said that “don’t really bother of what people say”.

Before taking "Fashion 70s," Lee Yo Won starred in a movie “When Romance Meets Destiny” as supporting actress, she said she likes the character and on purpose not to take as lead actress for her first comeback to entertainment. After "Fashion 70's," Lee Yo-Won acted in various drama and movies. She acted in medical drama "Surgeon Bong Dal Hee" as the main character Bong Dal Hee who was a resident doctor, struggling to be a surgeon even she herself had heart problem of her health. The Drama again made a success in TV rating, Lee Yo Won won Three Awards for this drama : Top Female Excellent, Best Couple (with Lee Bum Soo), and Popularity Award in SBS Drama Award 2007.

Another hit was movie "May 18" which was from real story of Gwangju incident in 1980, the movie attracted millions viewers on theatres and becomes first local movie in that year which can successfully compete against Hollywood movie. The end of 2007 until half 2008, Lee Yo Won acted in drama Bad Love (Cruel Love) with actor Kwon Sang Woo. This drama was a mellow one about love, unfortunately the drama wasn’t good in TV rating in Korea, and it said that the genre wasn’t popular at that time in Korean drama industry.

In 2009, Lee Yo-Won performed in another smash-hit television series, this time in the MBC historical drama "The Great Queen Seon Deok". Lee Yo-Won played main character Queen Seon Deok, who possessed extraordinary intelligence and strength. In an interview with "Star News," Lee Yo-Won stated she was tired of playing woman who were fragile and weak and eagerly took the role of Queen Seondeok because of this.

At first, some people doubt about her acting as Queen Seon Deok because they just recalled her acting as fragile and teary woman in Bad Love, but the PD and director of "Queen Seon Deok" believed that Lee Yo Won deserved the role, the "Bad Love" case wasn’t wrong with Lee Yo Won’s acting skill, she was good at it, what ruined the drama was the storyline itself. And right, Lee Yo Won successfully played the main role Queen Seon Deok, the drama become drama of the year and national drama in 2009. She played opposite Go Hyun Jung, even though some people always wanted to compare the two of them, but Lee Yo Won humble said that Go Hyun Jung is her senior and really appreciate her acting.

In 2010, Lee Yo-Won's next film "The Recipe" was released in late October. She appeared at the world premiere for "The Recipe" during the Pusan International Film Festival (in which AsianMediaWiki attended). During the question and answer session Lee Yo-Won stated she chose the film, because she wanted to work with another female director due to her great experience with "Take Care of my Cat." Although she was initially reluctant to take on another role of a "fragile woman," the movie's producer Jang Jin and movie director Lee Seo-Goon convinced this would be the right role for her.

Special thanks to Ninimi in Lee Yo Won forum at soompi.com and http://asianmediawiki.com/Lee_Yo-Won for the biography.

Yowon's Messages

Jan 21, 2017

Hello Everyone,

I am Lee Yo Won. Deeply moved by fans’ love, I want to post some photos through Ins in order to express my thankfulness (smile). However someone made a report and complained that I am not Lee Yo Won. I have no idea who is it (cry). Finding back the original account is a little bit tricky. Therefore I re-register a new one. I feel very grateful that the drama named Night Light could receive so many favors overseas. We are now filming the last episode. Pleas keep on watching the drama until the last moment. The weather is frozen, take care of yourselves, most importantly, do not catch cold.

Tags: #Night Light# #Lee Yo Won# #Official account# #It is not fake# #Do not make a complaint about me# #Re-register is really disturbing

credit to @qq_he

May 25, 2011

Is it really the end?
This is Ji-Hyun's father's "boss" sofa in Ji-Hyun's hospital room.. I fall asleep so well here. I want it ! want it! ^^

This is Meta-uhjoo road~~ This is where Bing Ji-Hyun (im assuming bing is for JH in YK's body) looks at the pretty stones and enjoys the nature.

It's almost a week~~
Does it end like thisㅋㅋ I'm slowly coming back to daily life...I'm trying to get out of it fast (the characters)...^^
The pretty cake at the ending party was so much I couldn't even eat much of it. Thank you so so much! Thank you again! Thank you for loving 49 days and for loving Bing Yi-Kyung and Song Yi-Kyung! See! I knew I would miss Bing Yi-Kyung (JH in YK)
As I left for the last time I was so sad...For a while my heart was hurting while shooting..But I guess that's the job of being an actress.. playing with emotions.. ㅠㅠ.
It's soo hard! tear tear.. I'm really anticipating which next project I'll be able to meet you again... This summer is supposed to be very hot.. Take care of your health! Let's meet again through a cool, awesome character!

First of all, thank you everyone for loving 49D, SYK, Soul-JH....
It was because of me, someone frequently visited DC to get involve in a heated debate/act angry.ㅋㅋ Please do not act this way~~ Apple Cafe has been established for a long time. Eventhough DC hasn't set up for a long period, but they are very active/positive and I am very grateful to them. We must all get along well.
Ah, 49D's OST is playing now (CAFE: background music), at the moment, heart felt pain ㅜㅜ Trying hard to forget, but... sob sob... very .. heart ... ache...

Also, thank you for the snacks. Eat together with all the staff.
Now we have to cheer up and back to normal life... is ... it ...요 ...ㅋㅋ ...
Summer seems to be very hot this year, please be careful of health...
Hope we can meet again.... tears are flowing now ... because the song are playing again now... darn...i need to hurry up leave..... sob sob ㅜㅜ
Bye.. SYK..Soul-JH

Apr 9, 2011

At exactly 12 o'clock, Hyun Jae gave me a birthday surprise, afterwards it was time for the party that Il Woo prepared.

The three of us, PD-nim, Il Woo, and I celebrated together, hoho~~

I felt so happy~~ Thanks everyone^^

Credit: translation by Temperateclimate at soompi.com

두번째 파뤼시간~~

일우가 해준 두번쩨 생일파뤼~~~

12시땡 현재씨의 서프라이즈 파뤼에 이은 일우군의 파뤼시간~~

얼짱 울감독님과 셋이서~~ㅋㅋ

행복해라~~감사해용^^

Source: DC

第二次慶生時間

日宇為我準備的第二次生日party~~~

12點整，顯宰送給我生日驚喜，之后又到了日宇準備的party時間。

我和導演以及日宇三人慶祝，呵呵~~

感覺好幸福~~謝謝大家^^

Source: LYW.cn

Apr 3, 2011

We're at the halfway point, it seems that time passes by really quickly as though I only began filming yesterday.First of all, I want to clear an misunderstanding that you guys have. My character is SYK, but I don't think of her as the lead character. Of course, I've had a misunderstanding about it too..but the lead character is neither SYK or SJH, you guys gave them cute nicknames such as Soul-YK and Soul-JH. (Not sure what's being said here, something about the character derived from both characters is the actual "lead character") It's easy to feel confused when the premise of the story is as such. I enjoy being both characters so please don't fight over YK or JH. The development of 49 days is still not determined yet, please give it lots of love and enjoy ^^
-In Yilsan TV Station, the woman that feels happy and touched by reading the messages on DC... (LYW's sign-off )

Mar 17, 2011

"Though an arduous work, finally 1st and 2nd eps had been aired. What do you think? Reading comments, each one has variety of opinions, either good or bad. I agree. Yesterday I saw many writings of praises, many of them fans of the stars. But, to get objective reviews, couldn't be just from fans, right? Today, however, it's a bit wider... (I think she means more people outside actors fans commented on 2nd eps). I want to see various comments, I'll gladly accept them no matter if they're good or bad.

In this cold weather, Il Woo and Gyu Ri worked very hard. You both did wonderful job. Good performance from pretty and lively Ji Hyun, also Il Woo the handsome and cool scheduler. Of course, very good performances from other stars as well.

To be honest, playing 2 different characters SYK-SJH is very hard. It's tough, read 2 scripts simultaneously and do both according to writer's wish. But I'll keep work hard. The story development will keep getting more and more interesting, I'll also look forward to it. At first it's hard to understand Shin Ji Hyun's feelings, she herself doesn't really understand. But over time, you'll get more familiar with her. Ha ha.

Thank you so much for the waiting. I feel very grateful. I'll keep work hard!"

Tidbits

May 31, 2011

Jung Il-woo shone with the appeal that someone only of his age could -- he checked out his jaw line in the mirror this way and that when told he seemed to have put on some weight after "49 Days" ended and showed off that he had great chemistry with actress Lee Yo-won for the show yet remarked, "We don't keep in touch after filming ended. She has to look after her baby and you know, because we're just cool like that? (laugh)"

10: In what sense did you have such good chemistry with her?
Jung: She would act according to what's going on for the shoot. A bit spontaneously but I think that's why my acting came out better. She'd react to me very naturallyso I'd immerse myself into that scene instead of thinking about what line I'm supposed to say next.

10: Did you not feel such bliss when working on your previous projects?Jung: I don't think there was a single time that I felt that I had good chemistry with an actress before.

May 28, 2011

49 days was a drama with the subject of "the possessed" ("bing ue" means possessed by as a spirit and thus explains why LYW called Ji-Kyung, Bing Yi-Kyung.)
So, the actress playing the two roles needed to have a delicacy in her acting in order to differentiate the characters. In that way, Lee Yo-Won was the greatest partner. Yo-Won ssi is an actress who sees "ensemble" as being important (in order words, the colloboration btwn actors). Her reactions were so good I got to act without any confusion (referring to the double roles). I tended to mostly work with actors with good "reactions", so I'm very blessed.

May 19, 2011

Seemingly effortless in all love scenes, matched so well with co-star LYW despite quite big age gap. JIW expresses his great impressions toward LYW.

"It's very comfortable to be with LYW senior. She supports me, help leads our scenes, make me understand true meaning of being an actor, thus brings the best out of me. Until now, she's the best partner with best chemistry I've ever worked with. Couldn't even be that convenient with Ms. NGR even though her age is closest to me here."

Source: Chinese translation source from JIW's Baidu Bar (read comments there and turns out some JIW's Kor fans in Daum now referring to LYW as JIW's "Darling", b'coz of his fondness toward YW )

Apr 14, 2011

49 Days director is a nice person and he like his methods. Thanks to him who arranged for all main casts to met long enough before start filming, they got plenty chances to knows each other better, therefore ease the filming atmosphere. Among them all, Jung Il Woo had found his "bff" in Lee Yo Won. (n.b.: Yuhuan translated it as "soulmate", but I think that's too strong a word so I go with "bff/best friend forever" term instead).

"Lee Yo Won sister and me spent most times together. She always take care of me very well. We talk a lot, practice together, etc. Most incredible is we have similar tastes. She likes to eat (some kind of Korean traditional fried chicken) too and there this restaurant near (...) where we're frequently visit together (laugh)."

Apr 11, 2011

Star & Story: Meeting up with the "bad guy" of the SBS drama 49 Days Bae Soo Bin

During the interview, Bae Soo Bin spoke about his impressions of his fellow cast members from 49 Days.

Regarding Jo Hyun Jae, who plays a character who is the opposite of his character, he said "We were already acquainted about 4 - 5 years ago, I feel really happy that I'm able to work together with Jo Hyun Jae on this drama."

At the same time, he also expressed his feelings about working with Lee Yo Won for the first time.

When describing the first occasion in which he met Lee Yo Won in person, Bae Soo Bin bashfully said, "Actually I've always wanted to become close and friendly with actors that I admire/like (implying that he's always admired/liked Yo Won). However, when we really met up, she was the one to initiate greetings, which made me feel embarassed and shy."